Chapter 9 - To Die As Slayers

Every single Slayer here.

They were all barely twenty years old.

These guys were probably had been born the same time as Yin and Suna were.

Everyone was petrified with fear.

Though there were a few ones who showed amicable dedication and focus, most were too scared to even hold their weapons.

It had to have been about fifty Slayers.

Fifty unranked or lower-class Slayers.

Their eyes were then locked onto the Commander and Gavin, whom they recognized and hailed as their idols and role models.

Their fear was now gone, surely with the SS-rank Commander and the S-rank Serpent Summoner, the Angel wasn't about to stand a chance.

That's what these clueless Slayers believed in.

"D-did nobody brief you guys in?"

Gavin asked hesitantly.

"About what, sir? We were only told to exterminate an Angel lurking around the Outer Gates. That's all." A child, not even older than fifteen, answered with a monotonous voice which implied he had already lost hope.

He probably knew.

The faces of the Six Blades went pale.

They didn't know.

These people did not know that only Yin and Suna were allowed to engage in combat.

An emissary from the High Council made her way through the crowd of Slayers.

She wore a blindingly white hooded robe.

Her features were sharp and precise.

The blonde hair of hers was steadily gusted away by the winds.

She was a fierce young woman who looked to be in her early twenties.

"Greetings, Slayers."

"It has come to our attention that complacency is being spread due to the fact that there are S-ranked Slayers in our midst. Namely the Slayer Corps Commander and the renowned Serpent Summoner. Do not misunderstand. They are only here to watch and observe. Not to fight. No, you, will do the fighting."

Just as easily as their worries vanished, it sunk even harder for them.

The realization that they were sent to the Outer Gates.

To die.

Yin, Luken, Suna, and Gavin could do nothing but lower their chins in shame.

"I'm sorry, everyone." Luken said.

Yin slowly walked to the emissary, he wanted to know why the Commander and Gavin were not allowed to fight.

"Are you prepared to have the blood of all us here in your hands? Why are you limiting our chances at victory?!"

Yin exclaimed furiously at her.

Suna tried to hold Yin back, but to no avail.

"Slayers are soldiers. From the day they awakened their Anima cells, to the day they die doing their duties, they are soldiers. Don't question authority if you don't want to be marked with insubordination."

Yin quickly backed off. She was serious.

"I'm also here to assess what rank you and your friend should be." She said as she points to Suna's direction.

"So, if there are no objections, I'll proceed with the briefing. Reports have documented that the Angel's last seen direction was a few kilometers north of here. An Angel, as you know, is an A-rank monster. The most effective way to exterminate it is to pierce its heart with a weapon, or anything that suits you. Now, form squads according to your Anima Affinity and walk north. Claim the land for Niflheim."

Flame Slayers, Water Slayers, Earth Slayers, Wind Slayers, Lightning Slayers, and Summoners were grouped separately within their own affinities.

Yin and Suna bid farewell to the Commander and Gavin.

"Don't die. That's order for both of you." Luken says with a firm, worried voice.

"We're basically Six Blades already, sir. We won't fall that easily."

Suna affirms her worried seniors with that.

She had no affinity or Anima cells whatsoever, so she was instructed by the emissary to be with Yin.

The pair donned the black Six Blades cloak with pride and honor as they slowly marched north.

Luken looked at the emissary with disdain in his gaze.

"You both, come with me."

"Why should we?"

Gavin asked in an enraged manner.

"Because that's orders from above."

They had no choice but to comply.

Rather than taking the road, they instead jumped to the forest's trees right beside the area.

"This is a good place to keep watch. We can also follow them much efficiently."

The two did not even mutter a single word to her the whole time.

They steadily tracked the group as they moved forward swinging from tree to tree.

"H-hi. You're Six Blades, right? That must mean you guys are plenty s-strong."

A pale young man roughly the same age as Yin asked them.

He was armed with stiletto daggers.

His blonde bowl-cut hair covered both his eyes.

He was not built like a soldier.

The man was obviously shaking from terror.

"Y-yeah, you can say that."

Yin tries to comfort him.

But even he can't fake his own terror.

"I-I'm Vinny, by the way, a lightning user like you two."

Suna was far too drained to correct him.

Vinny's friend approached them.

"Since you guys are part of a top 5 organization, that must mean you're strong, right? I mean the Commander and the Serpent Summoner trained you guys, right?"

Suna tried to tell them the truth, that she was a B-rank Anima-less Slayer, and that Suna had only turned into a Slayer less than a month.

But Yin stopped her.

"Yeah, we're strong. Just stick with us, we'll protect you."

Suna's face had anguish written all over it.

"Yin, why?"

"Because that's what I'll do. I'll protect every single one of these guys."

The Lightning group's morality was slowly raising, hearing of them having not one, but two members of the Six Blades was assuring.

They even saw the pair disembark the carriage with Luken and Gavin, after all.

"W-we might actually have a chance of surviving this conquest thanks to you guys!"

Vinny said with a smile that seemed to cope with his fright.

Everyone else followed in the same sentiment.

"What have you done, Yin?"

Suna knew.

She knew that this was false hope.

But Yin was wholeheartedly serious.

He thought he could save them.

Suna knew better than to dispel one's way of maintaining focus.

If this was what's keeping Yin from mentally crumbling, then so be it.

Two hours of marching and they finally reached it.

A crumbled city.

Humans used to inhabit this place a hundred years ago.

Until the Angels drove them back, further and further until the remaining humans joined the last frontier of Niflheim.

All fifty of the Slayers stopped.

Everyone had cold sweats dripping from everywhere.

They were petrified.

Suna readied her brand-new sword given to her by the Commander.

Yin clenched his fists, waiting for the Angel to show itself.

Surely the Angel has noticed them by now, they thought.

It just waited.

Waiting for the perfect time to strike.

That's when it happened.

At the speed of light, covered by the blinding rays of the Sun. An Angel hacked off a Flame Slayer's head clean.

Panic ensued.

It was using the screams of confusion to its advantage.

Luken and Gavin could do nothing but watch.

The Angel flew upwards and pulled out its Grimoire.

It was chanting spells.

Yin knew what it was doing.

This was something he witnessed before.

He knew what was coming next.

It was going to open its mouth, and so it did.

A high-pitched scream coming from the heavens above was heard by all the Slayers below.

The Angel was aiming a concentrated energy beam straight towards where it decapitated someone from earlier.

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!"

Yin warned the other Flame Slayers not to get close to their fallen comrade's headless body.

He was too late.

Five Slayers from the Flame group were now nothing but ashes.

Suna instinctively pulled Yin's hand and took him to the city's remnants to hide.

Vinny and his group saw them and joined in.

Other people from other teams saw and soon followed.

Everyone took cover behind the city's rubbles.

They were now confined into a small room.

"W-what's the plan?! What's the plan?! Aren't you Six Blades members?!"

Another person from the Lightning group asked impatiently.

Word of Yin and Suna being a part of such a prestigious group quickly spread.

Everyone was fixed their gaze at the two.

Although more focused on Yin.

It was then that Yin realized his mistake.

He made everyone place his faith on him.

He was now the de-facto leader of this ragtag group of low-ranked Slayers.

"Make a plan, quick!"

Shouted another Slayer.

The Angel's wings could be heard flapping louder and louder.

This only meant one thing.

It was descending.

Closer and closer, it was approaching.

Summoners pulled out their Grimoires and cast incantations in advance.

But Yin noticed the difference in their summoned creatures once compared with Gavin's.

One summoner had a wolf.

This wolf was small and noticeably had no strength in its limbs.

Another summoned a frog. It was as small as a normal frog.

Several others had different summons, but they were clearly too weak to even put a dent on the Angel.

The more Yin and Suna looked at their abilities, the more they lost the will to fight.

They were doomed.

But Yin remembered his own words.

He called the attention of everyone in the room.

"I honestly don't know if we'll make it out of this conquest alive. I've been a Slayer for only a month at most now, and I'm only a C-rank at best. I shouldn't even be here giving out a speech."

When they heard what he said, they grew even more panicked.

"W-what? How could the Commander possibly recruit a weakling like you?!"

"How dare you wear the cloak of the Six Blades? You are a pathetic excuse of a Slayer!"

"We thought we could rely on you, Yin."

Everything that was said cut through Yin's heart like a knife.

"Enough!"

Yin exclaimed with full authority.

"I know that better than anyone else. The fact of the matter is that there is an Angel hunting us outside of these broken walls. If we're going to fight anyway, why not fight as soldiers? Why not die as Slayers? Did you come here just to rely on someone? Or did you come here to do what was ordered of you. To exterminate this Angel. If we lose, then we die. If we don't try, we won't win."

His words were not that of inspiration.

They were words that were harsh but true.

They all knew that most of them would die.

Yin's words kept them composed and focused once more.

"Besides, we're Six Blades for a reason."

His pupils dilated.

With a deep breath, signaled the start of their counterattack.

"Slayers! On me!"

He then touched the fragile walls and Decayed it in two seconds before jumping out to the Angel.

"Yin!!"

Suna followed him shortly after.

Though the others were still hesitant, they still wanted to die as Slayers.

"Everyone! Follow their lead!"

Vinny shouted as every single Slayer jumped after Yin.

The Angel was frantically searching for them has now pinpointed their location.

This was when the battle at the Outer Gates truly began.

[ Quest : Exterminate Angel 0/1 ]

"What do you think I'm going to do, System?"

He said with pure focus and seriousness.